We’re not designed to go it alone. I ignored that truth for years… personally, and in business. I’ve started and sold two businesses, relaunched myself many times, and learned a lot – sometimes the hard way! But my biggest learn was that I was unfulfilled. When I started helping others launch and grow their dream projects, things finally clicked. I’m a strategic partner to businesses, bestselling authors, global nonprofits, publishers, as well as start-ups, and aspiring messengers. I’m a manager and literary agent. My logo shows two links hooked together, and that’s a symbol for the type of working relationship I’ve been privileged to share with my clients. (…the connected part, not the “chained” part…) My blog is inspired by these great dreamers. Depending on your needs, I’ll bring in members of my team with international experience in PR, video, and more. My solar-powered wife and I live in Winter Park, Colorado – which is an amazing place to plan your launch!

Every person, and every organization, needs outside perspective, experience, and gifts that others bring.

Jon Gordon, Best Selling Author & Keynote Speaker

Jon joins us to talk about his new book The Carpenter, A Story About the Greatest Success Strategies of All. We discuss how to become more successful loving what you are doing, focusing on the customer to grow your business, and what is your caring trademark (plus a lot more).

Jon Gordon’s best-selling books and talks have inspired readers and audiences around the world. His principles have been put to the test by numerous NFL, NBA, MLB coaches and teams, Fortune 500 companies, school districts, hospitals and non-profits. He is the author of numerous books including The Wall Street Journal bestseller The Energy Bus, Soup,The No Complaining Rule, Training Camp, and The Carpenter. Jon and his tips have been featured on The Today Show, CNN, Fox and Friends and in numerous magazines and newspapers. His clients include The Atlanta Falcons, LA Clippers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Campbell Soup, Wells Fargo, Northwestern Mutual, Publix, Southwest Airlines, Bayer, West Point Academy and more.

Jon is a graduate of Cornell University and holds a Masters in Teaching from Emory University. He and his training/consulting company are passionate about developing positive leaders, organizations and teams.

When he’s not running through airports or speaking, you can find him playing tennis or lacrosse with his wife and two teenage children.
Connect with Jon on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Want to monetize your dream,
take your business to the next level,
or just launch your business?

Kirk Bowman, Art of Value

Kirk joins us to talk about how to price our services! Ever wonder how to price? Did you know your hourly rate is a barrier? Where you aware how you sell is indicative of the way you sell? Take your business to the next level with value pricing!

The four steps of Value Pricing:

1. Realize you create value!

2. Discover value from the customer’s perspective (ask great questions)!

In August 2009, I was the advocate for hourly billing (ironic now) for a panel discussion on estimating and billing at the FileMaker Developer Conference. Another developer on the panel was an advocate for value pricing. He said, “If you bill by the hour, there is an artificial limit on your income.” My internal reaction was “Hell no!“

I spent the next 3 months studying value pricing. Then in November, I made a public commitment on the FileMaker Talk podcast to switch from hourly billing to value pricing with MightyData, my software company. Then I hired a value pricing consultant to help me make the switch.

My first value pricing proposal was for a custom healthcare application. After identifying the value that the project would create for the customer, I doubled the price I would normally have charged and won the business.

Within 12 months, I made the switch to value pricing with all my customers. Our revenue increased by 56% the first year. The next year, our revenue increased by 79%. And, I have never looked back.

Trivinia Barber, Priority Va

Trivinia Barber is the owner of Priority VA, a business with the goal of enabling women who dream to remain in the workforce after childbirth to achieve their professional goals. She contracts with virtual assistants to provide services to a variety of clients across the country. Speakers, authors, physicians and bloggers seek the services of Trivinia and her team to unburden them from the tasks they aren’t good at or don’t have time for so they can focus on what they do best.

Trivinia is a mom of 3 children, a foster parent and passionate follower of Christ who believes that if you honor Christ with your life and put Him first in all things, you will receive the desires of your heart. Trivinia lives in Colorado with her husband of 12 years, Chris.

Dan Miller, 48 Days to the Work You Love

Dan Miller, President of 48 Days LLC, specializes in creative thinking for increased personal and business success. He believes that meaningful work blends our natural skills and abilities, our unique personality traits and our dreams and passions. Dan is active in helping individuals redirect careers, evaluate new income sources, and achieve balanced living. He believes that a clear sense of direction can help us become all that God designed us to be.

Dan is the author of the New York Times best-selling 48 Days To The Work You Love, No More Dreaded Mondaysand Wisdom Meets Passion. He has been a guest on CBS’ ‘The Early Show,’ MSNBC’s ‘Hardball with Chris Mathews,’Moody MidDay Connection, and the Dave Ramsey Show. Dan has spoken at the White House Christian Fellowship, and is in high demand at national conferences speaking on aging and changes in the workplace as well as at universities and churches. Over 130,000 people have subscribed to his weekly newsletter, his 48 Days Podcast consistently ranks in the top 3 under Careers on iTunes, and the 48Days.net business community is viewed as an example around the world for those seeking to find – or create – work they love. Book Dan to speak or check out 48 Days products at www.48Days.com.

Committed to personal priorities, Dan and his wife Joanne are approaching their 45th anniversary and have 3 world-changing children and 12 amazing grandchildren.

What does it mean to be fully alive in your work? Many of us are not yet doing what God put us here to do. Dan looks at the changing work models and outlines a plan for integrating your dreams and your passions into your daily activities. If you’ve ever buried your dreams in an attempt to be “practical” or “realistic,” Dan will show you how embracing those very dreams is the most practical way to enjoy life and achieve the success you’re looking for.

Guest Bio: At age 25, with the help from my wife, mentors, family and friends, I became the youngest World Champion of Public Speaking in history; competing against more than 30,000 people from 116 countries to claim the 2012 World Championship title. I am the cofounder of AveryToday, Inc. and managing partner at How to Be a Speaker, LLC where we help professionals succeed at work by improving their communication skills. I speak more than 50 times a year to global clients that span emerging professionals, engineers, entrepreneurs, lawyers and college students.

The 3 questions Ryan asks every day:

1. What is your favorite thing about yourself?
2. What is your favorite thing about your spouse?
3. How did I give back today?
4. What am I thankful for today?

Guest Bio: A 1967 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Dick Couch served as a Surface Warfare Officer and a Special Warfare Officer. While a platoon leader with SEAL Team One in 1970, he led one of the only successful POW rescue operations of the Vietnam War. On release from active duty in 1972, he entered the Central Intelligence Agency, where he served as a Maritime Operations Case Officer. Dick retired from the Naval Reserve in 1997 with the rank of captain and currently serves as an advisor on military and tactical ethics for the component commands of the US Special Operations Command.

Dick enjoys a unique relationship with the US Special Operations Command and its subordinate Army, Navy, and Marine Corps component commands. They have allowed him special access for extended periods of time with their training and operational elements, and to tell their story in print. Dick has spent five of the last fifteen years embedded with these special operation components, at their domestic locations and their forward operating bases overseas.

Motivate | Equip | Lead | Entrepreneurs | Catalyst John

Episode #52 : Heather Thorkelson & What Is Possible

Today, Heather Thorkelson joins us to talk about what is possible and how you can live in freedom! We start of with her incredible story of traveling the world and building a life around who you really are. She talks about her Republic of Freedom and how every decision needs to be based on the one thing that truly brings you happiness. Pay attention to what you do like, but also pay attention to what you don’t like and move away from that.

Don’t tell yourself a story that you can’t do something. Just show up fully in your life, take some risks, and make some changes.

We also talk about living and working without a “plan b” and / or “security.”

Finding your Republic of Freedom…

Write out a list of the simple things (even child like innocent state of mind) that give you great and simple pleasure and make you at peace. Then look at what it would like like if I could partake in this every single day. Who do I need to be? What do I need to let go of?

“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” – Albert Camus

Guest Bio: Heather is a Business Strategist and Founder of the Republic of Freedom. She embraces life and created a business that allows her to live as she dreams. Find her website and how she helps amazing people build remarkable livelihoods at http://heatherthorkelson.com/

Did you know that Heather has been to every continent in the world and been to Antarctica 9 times!